DSO Assistant Conductor and Phillip & Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador Na’Zir McFadden leads orchestra performance for children ages 6 and up
The same day, Gemini performs in The Cube for children ages 2-6
Tickets on sale now at dso.org
Detroit, (March 20, 2024) – The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) will continue its Young People’s Family Concert Series with When Instruments Roamed the Earth conducted by DSO Assistant Conductor and Phillip & Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador Na’Zir McFadden on April 13 at 11 a.m. at Orchestra Hall.
Filled with laughs, surprises, multi-media projection, and onstage action, the program will offer an all-ages introduction to the exciting sounds, people, and experience of a symphony orchestra concert. The program will feature Sir Humphrey Treble-Clef, a paleo-musicologist who believes that modern instruments are the descendants of giant, dinosaur-like creatures that exist in Sir Humphrey’s unusual imagination.
Prior to the Young Peoples Family Concert Series performance, at 10 a.m. in the Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings Cube, twin brother musicians Sandor and Laszlo Slomovits (Gemini) will perform rousing sing-alongs, hand motion tunes, and sparkling original songs about everyday experiences of childhood and growing up. Tiny Tots performances are fun-filled, interactive concerts designed for children ages 2-6 and their families. Please note the DSO does not appear on this performance.
On the morning of the concerts, the DSO will host family-friendly activities in the William Davidson Atrium, including a composer’s workshop, instrument try-out tables, a face painting station, a creative journaling station where children can decorate a journal to take home, and a “make an instrument” craft table. Children will also have the opportunity to write notes to DSO musicians, and visit an informational booth hosted by the MSU Community Music School in Detroit, which will feature additional performances and musical activities.
When Instruments Roamed the Earth will take place Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m. at Orchestra Hall. Gemini will take place Saturday, April 13 at 10 a.m. in the Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings Cube (The Cube). Both Orchestra Hall and The Cube are located within the DSO’s Midtown Campus: the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center (3711 Woodward Avenue).
Tickets for the Young People’s Family Concert Series performance start at $20; tickets for the Tiny Tots performance are $12. Tickets to both events can be purchased at dso.org or by calling the Box Office at 313.576.5111, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Young People’s Family Concert Series is supported by Sun Communities.
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WHEN INSTRUMENTS ROAMED THE EARTH
Young People’s Family Concert Series
Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m.
Orchestra Hall
Na’Zir McFadden, conductor
In pre-historic times, strange creatures walked the planet. These were the ancient ancestors of musical instruments that inspired melodious makers in brass and wood to create the instruments we see in the orchestra today.
Join on a journey into the times When Instruments Roamed the Earth®!
Filled with laughs, surprises, multi-media projection, and onstage action, the symphony will present the perfect all-ages introduction to the exciting sounds, people, and experience of a symphony orchestra concert.
Hear the hilarious “research” of paleo-musicologist, Sir Humphrey Treble-Clef, who believes that our modern instruments are actually the descendants of giant, dinosaur-like creatures like you’ve never seen before. These are strange creatures that exist in the hot, mysterious, swampy jungles of Sir Humphrey’s unusual imagination.
Most will not believe a man who tried to prove that ancient humans made music by hitting themselves on the head with rocks; but everyone will smile, laugh, and be in awe of the symphonic interpretations of Sir Humphrey’s wild theories, featuring all the instruments of the orchestra.
GEMINI
Tiny Tots
Saturday, April 13 at 10 a.m.
The Peter D. and Julie F. Cummings Cube
Gemini, duo
Twin-brother musicians Sandor and Laszlo Slomovits feature rousing sing-alongs, hand motion tunes, and sparkling original songs about everyday experiences of childhood and growing up. Kids and adults will love this dynamic show!
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About Na’Zir McFadden
American conductor Na’Zir McFadden is the Assistant Conductor and Phillip & Lauren Fisher Community Ambassador of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, working closely with Music Director Jader Bignamini. McFadden also serves as Music Director of the Detroit Symphony Youth Orchestra.
Establishing his presence on the classical music scene, the 2023–2024 season includes a debut with the Ann Arbor Symphony and a return to the Philadelphia Ballet in addition to maintaining several ongoing engagements with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. He’ll also serve as a guest cover conductor for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In the 2022–2023 season, he made his subscription debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra alongside bass-baritone Davóne Tines and clarinetist Anthony McGill. In March of 2024, he conducted the DSO’s annual Classical Roots program, premiering two new works by composers Billy Childs and Shelley Washington. Other conducting highlights have included debuts with the Utah Symphony Orchestra, the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Ballet.
Additionally, McFadden led a recording project with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago featuring Hilary Hahn as co-collaborator and soloist. This past summer, McFadden participated in the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Conducting Seminar as part of the Tanglewood Institute under the guidance of Andris Nelsons and Stefan Asbury. In 2020, McFadden was named the inaugural Apprentice Conductor of the Philadelphia Ballet; a position he held until 2022. He also served as the Robert L. Poster Conducting Apprentice of the New York Youth Symphony from 2020 to 2021. At the age of 16, he conducted his hometown orchestra—The Philadelphia Orchestra—in their “Pop-Up” series, meeting their Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who has since served as a mentor to McFadden.
The Philadelphia Inquirer praised his “great stick [baton] technique and energetic presence on the podium” in their concert review. An advocate for arts education, McFadden strives to provide access to the arts for students in underserved communities. Currently, McFadden is a board member of Generation Music, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit organization that provides classical music education to underrepresented youth in local school districts that cannot afford to do so. His efforts have led to collaborations with youth ensembles in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Salt Lake City.
About Gemini
Gemini has been performing since 1973. From their home base in Ann Arbor, Michigan, twin brothers San and Laz have performed to enthusiastic audiences at concert halls, festivals, community centers, and elementary schools throughout the US and Canada. In 1997, Gemini added a new and very exciting facet to their music as they began performing with symphony orchestras, including the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony.
Since 1979, San and Laz have released numerous recordings for adults, children, and families. These recordings have won awards including from Parents' Choice Magazine, the American Library Association, the National Parenting Publications (NAPPA), and the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. Fancy That!, their first video, was voted one of the Top 10 children's videos by the American Library Association & Random House in their book, 1992 Best of the Best.
The twin brothers' retrospective compilation, The Best of Gemini, received a 1999 Directors' Choice Award from Early Childhood News, as well as a Silver Honors Award from Parents' Choice Magazine. Volume 2 of the Best of Gemini includes their newest original songs, as well as traditional songs from all around the world.
In 2002, Gemini teamed up with an acclaimed chamber orchestra, the Phoenix Ensemble, to release The Orchestra Is Here to Play! This unique folk-classical collaboration—the perfect introduction to classical music for young listeners through songs they love—has won awards from Parents' Choice Magazine, as well as from the Children's Music Web.
Gemini's most recent recording, released in April 2010, is Once Upon A Time... The Storytelling Album featuring folk tales from around the world, with musical elements added to each story. This album also features "Perfect Pitch," a story by San, which includes original orchestral music interspersed throughout.
Gemini has received ASCAP's "Popular Awards," a songwriting and recording award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers every year since 1995. Several of Gemini's songs were listed in the 1995 edition of Children's Jukebox, a subject guide to musical recordings used by librarians and teachers throughout the US. In 1997, Gemini's work was honored by a Silver Medallion Award from the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts.
Gemini's music is published by the Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, the world's largest music publisher. Since 1994, Hal Leonard has published Gemini's first songbook and two musical revues for Elementary Schools based on Gemini's songs. These two revues, "Kids are Kids the Whole World Round" and "In Our Family," have been performed by children in schools throughout North America.
San and Laz have received songwriting grants from the Michigan Council for the Arts and have written music for educational TV and films at Wayne State University. They have also arranged and recorded twelve albums of international ethnic folk-dance music to accompany the book Rhythmically Moving by Phyllis Weikart, a leading authority on movement and dance. These recordings, published by the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, are used internationally by early childhood educators to teach movement and dance to children.
About the DSO
The acclaimed Detroit Symphony Orchestra is known for trailblazing performances, collaborations with the world’s foremost musical artists, and a deep connection to its city. Led by Music Director Jader Bignamini since 2020, the DSO makes its home at historic Orchestra Hall within the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center, offering a performance schedule that features the PVS Classical, PNC Pops, Paradise Jazz, and Young People’s Family Concert series. In addition, the DSO presents the William Davidson Neighborhood Concert Series in metro area venues, as well as eclectic multi-genre performances in its mid-size venue The Cube, constructed and curated with support from Peter D. & Julie F. Cummings. A dedication to broadcast innovation began in 1922, when the DSO became the first orchestra in the world to present a live radio broadcast of a concert and continues today with the groundbreaking Live from Orchestra Hall series of free webcasts.
Since its first school concerts a century ago, and particularly since the founding of the Civic Youth Ensembles in 1970, the DSO has been a national leader in bringing the benefits of music education to students, teachers, and families in Detroit and surrounding communities. The DSO remains committed to expanding its participation in the growth and well-being of Detroit through programs like its Detroit Neighborhood Initiative—cultural events co-created with community partners and residents—and Detroit Harmony, a promise to provide an instrument and instruction to any student in the city who wants to learn. With unwavering support from the people of Detroit, the DSO actively pursues a mission to impact lives through the power of unforgettable musical experiences.